JUNE 20, 2003 - Muskingum College grants three Distinguished Service Awards to alumni Three Muskingum College alumni, Dr. Carol Williamson Kinsley, Dr. J. Stark Thompson and Honorable Howard S. Zwelling, have received the college's highest alumni honor, the Distinguished Service Award. The three received the honor at the alumni banquet held as a part of the college's Alumni Weekend festivities, held June 20-22 on the campus.

The highlight of Alumni Weekend festivities since 1972, the Distinguished Service Award celebrates Muskingum's enduring values of service and leadership. Each year, Muskingum alumni nominate those who have a made a qualitative difference through their exemplary service to humankind and through their professional endeavors. Any living Muskingum graduate or former student is eligible.

Dr. Carol Williamson Kinsley

Following her graduation from Muskingum College in 1959, Dr. Kinsley embarked on a career as an educator that would last for more than 30 years. She began as a teacher in the Grove City, Pennsylvania public schools, but her work ultimately would reach far beyond that Pennsylvania town.

As an administrator with the Springfield (Massachusetts) Public Schools, Dr. Kinsley developed and implemented a process to integrate service into the curriculum. Following this, she worked at the community and state levels as an advocate for service learning. From the Springfield Community Service Learning Center, which she founded, Dr. Kinsley rose to a position of leadership on behalf of service learning throughout Massachusetts, New England, and the nation.

In 1994, the sum of her work resulted in a presidential appointment to the board of Directors of the Corporation for National Service, through which she continues to bring her unique insights and energy to crucial national policy issues in the youth service field. She now serves on the board of directors of the National Service Learning Partnership.

Dr. J. Stark Thompson

Following his graduation with a degree in chemistry from Muskingum College in 1963, Dr. Thompson obtained a master's degree and a doctoral degree in physiological chemistry from The Ohio State University. As a graduate student, Dr. Thompson formally characterized a previously unknown enzyme within the human liver-L-Alanine:Glyoxylate Aminotransgerase-and showed how the enzyme was related to oxalosis. In 1968, Dr. Thompson joined E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Over his 21-year career with du Pont, Dr. Thompson headed strategic sales and marketing initiatives (both in the United States and Europe), held leadership positions over diagnostics, biotechnology, and healthcare business planning operations, and served as Division Director for the Instrument Systems Division and Business Director for the Clinical Systems Division.

In 1988, Dr. Thompson assumed the positions of President and Chief Executive Officer of Life Technologies-an international biotechnology corporation. Under his leadership, Life Technologies expanded significantly, becoming the largest developer, manufacturer and seller-worldwide-of products used for life sciences research and biotechnology.

Employee policies created by Dr. Thompson placed Life Technologies in Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for. In 2000, Working Mother honored Life Technologies as one of America's top 10 companies.
Today, he serves on the Muskingum College Board of Trustees, as well as numerous corporate boards. He is Chair of the Board of Visitors of Ohio State University's College of Biological Sciences.

The Honorable Howard S. Zwelling

Following his graduation from Muskingum College in 1959, Judge Zwelling earned his juris doctorate from Ohio Northern University. He practiced law for 22 years in Zanesville, Ohio, concentrating his work in the civil and criminal arenas. His practice extended to include work within 28 counties in Ohio. In 1983, Judge Zwelling was elected to the bench as Municipal Court judge. In 1999, Judge Zwelling was elected to the Court of Common Pleas in Muskingum County, where he presides over all civil and criminal matters.

In 1989, the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court appointed Judge Zwelling to the Supreme Court of Ohio Committee on Dispute Resolution. In response, the committee created the Circuit Rider Mediation Program-a program that enabled municipal and county courts to utilize volunteer mediators in the resolution of small claims disputes.

In 1993, Judge Zwelling obtained a grant to institute mediation programs in the cities of Zanesville, Cambridge, Lancaster and Marietta for which these cities have received national praise.

Judge Zwelling also established a successful peer mediation system in the Zanesville City Schools. This program brought volunteers into 3rd - 12th grade classrooms to teach the children how to mediate their disputes and reduce the incidences of violence.

Judge Zwelling is a past president of the Ohio Association of Municipal and County Judges and the Muskingum County Bar Association. In 2002, he was named Zanesville Sertoman of the Year. In addition to his work in Ohio, Judge Zwelling is a licensed mediator in North Carolina and Florida.